Where to work so that employers hunt for you?

Are you an experienced specialist with a long history, but your resume is stubbornly ignored, and your nephew, who has just started his career path, is wanted by all employers in the country?

Maybe it has something to do with where you worked before. After all, holding a position in the so-called “desirable” companies, you can always “sell yourself” more expensively and faster, Alyona Vladimirskaya, a leading recruiting specialist in Russia, is sure.

“Usually, when they come to a recruiter with the words “I want to find a specialist,” they name 3-5 companies, people from which will be welcome. However, if you work for “undesirable” companies, you will be less likely to be interviewed, and in order to get a job offer, you will have to overcome initial distrust with the help of special skills and experience,” she says.

To find out which employees of which organizations are quoted by employers, Alena Vladimirskaya conducted a study by interviewing clients of her project “Alena Vladimirskaya’s Career Laboratory”, as well as analyzing the vacancies of the Facancy job search service.

It should be noted that the study focuses specifically on office workers – the so-called “white-collar workers”.

So, according to the results of the analysis:

• The undisputed leader among the “desirable” companies is Yandex – 64%;
• In second place by a wide margin were the “big four”: Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young и KPMG – 31%;
• The leading grocery retail company in Russia is in third place X5 Group – 26%.
• Tied for fourth place Tinkoff и Megaphone – 11% each.

The top ten also includes MTS, SkyEng, OZON, Alfabank, AFK Sistema. “From the point of view of employers, the employees of these companies will help them grow their business faster. It is believed that these organizations have excellent management. Employers draw conclusions based on the performance of companies,” Vladimirskaya explains.

Especially if you do not immediately apply for leadership positions and have the necessary skills. As a rule, in such large-scale organizations there are almost always open vacancies.

“By the way, if we look at the situation last year, we will see that the share of IT companies in the top ten has decreased. If a year ago it all consisted of IT, then retail also appeared in this. For example, Retail X5 and OZON. Of course, the role of IT is still strong, but the trend towards a decrease in influence is clearly visible, ”she notes.

In addition, according to her, now among the “desirable” companies there are more Russian organizations. “Another interesting thing is that earlier there were more telecom operators on this list, the whole trio (MTS, Megafon and Vimpelcom) has always been on the list of the most desirable ones. Now this is not the case, which is generally connected with the stagnation of the industry, ”stresses Vladimirskaya.

As for the “unwanted” companies, they were:

• Public service (especially tax) – 79%. “This is how the leading negative request is formulated. The fact is that employers are really afraid that employees will bring a “tail” of inspections with them, ”explains Vladimirskaya.
• “Sber” – 52%. “This is due to the fact that Sberbank pays a lot, much higher than the market. If you decide to hire such a highly paid employee, then no matter how you hide it, the rest will know his salary. Other workers will begin to resent, and as a result, wages skyrocket. Therefore, all employers directly say that they cannot fight Sberbank, which has almost all the country’s money. They think like this: “Maybe the employee is good, but what’s the point of interviewing him if we still can’t afford him?” the recruiter says.
• “Gazprom” – 39%. “Earlier, Gazprom was in the top of desirable companies. But there have been strong changes – for the same reasons as in Sberbank, – Alena explains.

At the same time, the desires of employers were largely influenced by the coronavirus, adds a recruiting specialist. “After a long experience of remote work, entrepreneurs and leaders have become more loyal to where a person is. Now they are paying attention to strong employees from the regions, which gives people from the provinces more chances for a successful career.

At the same time, it seems to me that the employees of the “top” companies themselves will soon begin to change jobs more willingly, since at the height of the pandemic they did not have such an opportunity. “Now it’s a hard time in my company, I have important projects on me, I can’t quit everything,” they thought. Now they are ready for the next step. So, in my opinion, a large number of companies already in the fall will face the fact that employees who simply burned out will run away from them. But there are pluses in this: after all, now there will be vacancies for new applicants!”